Timeless profession

Lititz Watch Technicum training the next generation of watchmakers

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The modern wrist watch dates back to the 1800s but historians have differences of opinion on exactly when. It could have been the bracelet watch by Capt & Freundler in 1813, a Patek Philippe women’s watch in 1868, or even a Girard-Perregaux watch made for the German Navy in 1880. And some even believe a jeweled timepiece mounted on an armlet that Queen Elizabeth I may have worn in the late 1500s could be the first of the genre.

The tradition of fine, mechanical timepieces is a long and honored one, and watches from Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, and Girard-Perregaux continue to be purchased by many and passed down from father-to-son and mother-to-daughter.

The question today is not who buys them, but who will fix and service them? It has become a challenge as jewelry stores close and watch repair facilities no longer can find trained watchmakers.

The industry began to change in the 1970s when non-mechanical electric watches made their debut. These watches first relied on an electrically-powered oscillator like a balance wheel or tuning fork and later used the vibrations of a quartz crystal to keep time. Even less expensive, digital-face battery-operated time pieces, some so inexpensive they were called throw-away watches, became popular in the late 20th Century and accelerated the move away from mechanical timepieces.

The very existence of mechanical watches — with springs, levers, wheels, and gears — was questioned and many speculated they would just disappear.

Although watches from American manufacturers including Bulova, Hamilton, and Timex continue to be sold in the United States, they are now made overseas. American-made mechanical watches have almost disappeared and most mass market watches sold in the United States today actually come from China or other countries in the Far East.

However, the market for high-end mechanical watches — with precise movements housed in exquisite cases — never disappeared. It continues to be a growth market in the jewelry business. Today, these watches come from Europe and grace the wrists of CEOs, celebrities, and many in the financial markets.

At the start of the new millennium, it became clear that professionals trained to service, refurbish, and repair mechanical watches were long past their prime and no one was in the pipeline to replace them. Programs at colleges and independent schools to train would-be watchmakers, including many World War II veterans, were closed or closing.

For years, Rolex, which had been selling high-quality watches since 1908, had a service center in Lancaster. Needing more space, it built a new 54,000-square foot, two-story building on Wynfield Drive in Lititz, designed by renowned architect Michael Graves. The building architecture calls to mind a traditional Lancaster County Amish barn and opened in 2001.

It was built to house Rolex’s service center and the company provided space within the building for a school to train a new generation of Americans as watchmakers. The goal was, and still is, to re-populate many high-end jewelry stores in the United States that, at one time, provided these services but had to close repair facilities as their watchmakers retired and could not be replaced.

Herman Mayer, a watchmaker trained in his native Germany, who worked at the Rolex service center in Los Angeles for three years, helped to open the Lititz facility and was tapped to manage the operation in 2002.

The plan, he explains, was for the Lititz Watch Technicum to take 12 to 14 students each September for, he says, “an intensive two years of study.” Students would pay no tuition, but would purchase watch tools for several thousand dollars, which they would use for life. It was a leap of faith for Rolex and Mayer, as no one knew for sure if they could recruit a class.

They needn’t have worried, as it turned out that during the first years LWT had hundreds of applications.

The school has enjoyed an 85 percent graduation rate from the program with a student body coming right from high school to about age 40.

LWT has had 148 students since 2003, and nearly all of them have stayed in the field working primarily at jewelry stores across the country that sell and service mechanical watches.

In discussing what makes a successful student, Mayer smiles and says, “The best students are tinkerers.”

He continues, “They may have worked with their dad as a child to fix a bike or changed the oil in the family car. They like to drive a stick shift car,” he says. “Really, they want to know how things work.”

The student teacher ratio at LWT is one instructor for every 10 students. The instructors are watchmakers with decades of experience, and although there is reading and classroom study 90 percent of the work is practical with students repairing watches at their bench or fashioning tiny wheels, sprockets and gears at one of the school’s specialized machines.

Students get interested in studying at LWT for different reasons. Paul Capar, a second-year student from Pittsburgh, inherited his grandfather’s watch several years ago and was curious who could fix it. He wondered if it was is something he might be able to do with training.

“I wanted to know how it ran and if I could work in an industry that fixed it,” he said.

Madison Jardine, a first-year student from Carlisle, said she always liked to fix things. She had learned jewelry making and was working with small jewelry pieces before applying to the school.

“I always helped my dad fix my bike,” she smiles, “and I like the precision and discipline needed to fix these complex mechanisms.”

For would-be students, there is an initial screening of application materials and technical abilities before finalists are invited to Lititz for final interviews, testing, and meetings with the faculty and staff before a decision is made.

Mayer says that today there are fewer would-be students who have the technical skills to predict success.

“It’s an iPad generation,” he laments. “Very few kids fix their bike anymore or changes the oil in their car. However, the students we do get are highly motivated and a pleasure to work with.”

Graduates can expect to earn about $45,000 to $55,000 in their first job. The training amounts to some 3,500 hours over the two years. Mayer says most graduates move into the field solo, working alone without any mentorship as there are very few professional refresher courses available and they usually are the only ones at the retail operation with the expertise.

In 2015, Mayer took a leap of faith and added an innovative “dual program” at LWT. He established a three-year curriculum for watch technicians currently working in the industry. They spend two weeks each quarter (2,000 hours total) in Lititz away from their full-time work in training with the school faculty before returning to their regular job. The dual program gives technicians both instruction and mentorship over an extended period.

“It’s a pilot program,” Mayer said, “and the jury is still out as to whether it can be sustained over time.”

What he questions is whether there will be enough potential students from the small profession already doing some type of watch repair who would benefit from the intensive multi-year, part-time program. Naturally, he hopes there will be.

Many locals marvel at the handsome Rolex/LWT building, but few know what goes on inside its walls.

“You’d be surprised,” Mayer says, “that although we fly under the radar, the special students, the tinkerers who want to work in this field, find us … and we’re glad they do.”

Art Petrosemolo is a freelance feature writer and photographer who recently retired to this area from New Jersey. He welcomes reader feedback at artpetrosemolo@comcast.net.